The Administrative Core provides the umbrella for effective operation of nearly all components ofthe COBRE program. An objective ofthe Administrative Core is to provide an efficient and effective organizational structure in which to ensure excellence in management, integration and oversight ofthe COBRE across Departments and the LSUHSC. The COBRE Director and Program Coordinator are supported in their administrative responsibilities by an Internal Steering Committee and an External Advisory Committee, which provide routine oversight and guidance regarding the programs research. Core, mentoring, and administrative components. The Internal Steering Committee will oversee program management and development ofthe Cardiovascular Center. Accordingly, the Administrative core will: 1) provide strong leadership to COBRE and Cardiovascular Center investigators over the next 5 years; 2) provide support to sustain and enhance the services and state-of-art equipment available to investigators through our Core Facilities; 3) sustain an enriched mentoring environment in which to provide vision and guidance to each cardiovascular investigator in relation to scientific and career development; 4) provide an effective mechanism for recruitment of new cardiovascular investigators into the Cardiovascular Center; 5) provide effective fiscal and administrative management ofall components ofthe COBRE program and Cardiovascular Center including oversight and management of COBRE pilot project awards; 6) review the scientific accomplishments of our Cardiovascular Center investigators and the status ofthe overall research program with members ofthe Internal Steering Committee and the External Advisory Committee, and to construct effective means to resolve weaknesses; 7) enhance scientific interactions and potential research collaborations through an active cardiovascular seminar series and organization of mini-symposia; 8) provide continued career development through research training offered by our COBRE/University Core Facilities, LSUHSC Office of Research Services, and sponsorship of workshops; and 9) enhance translational research by fostering research collaborations and discussions between basic science and clinical-scientist.